Sally Said:

Do hiring managers expect more from cover letters or resumes?

We Answered:

Resumes are important because it tells if the applicant meets the basic requirements for the job.

Cover letters are important for so very many reasons.

That being said, the cover letter is usually something I use to weed people out.

For example, if you don't know the difference between "their" and "there" I'm not going to be impressed.

If you're using an email address such as sexykitty69 at spankmail dot com I'm probably not going to be impressed. (Not that I care what you do in your personal life, but let's show that we can separate business from personal, eh?)

Be careful with cover letters, folks. They should be short, well-written and customized for the position you're striving for.

Wade Said:

are cover letters for resumes really that important?

We Answered:

HR people just skim through cover letters. But cover letters seem to be like a norm. If you don't include them, they might think you application is incomplete.

Micheal Said:

Summary vs Objective on Resumes and Cover Letters?

We Answered:

Unless you have an extensive professional & scholastic record that would ad impetus to your request for a interview - you wouldn't sent a "cover letter" and a resume (and you are right - they are tossed) Objectives should match job openings (if you called prospective employer to find out if they are hiring and in what categories) and summary's of resume may be called for, which is to say that "employment objectives" are not really what employers are looking for, they're looking for people who are willing to learn, and have demonstrated their ability to accept new challenges and responsibilities.

Melanie Said:

Why are companies wanting cover letters, resumes or both handwritten.?

We Answered:

I've never seen that! Most companies want typed resumes and cover letters because they are MUCH easier to read, and if they use scanners to read resumes into database, handwriting just won't do.

However, I guess if they are asking for handwritten coverletters and resumes, they are tired of getting spammed/mass mailed generic resumes that aren't suitable for the jobs at hand.

If you have to write it all out by hand, you're going to be sure that you are eligible for the the job, and really want it.

Lee Said:

PDF Cover Letters and Resumes as 1 or 2 documents?

We Answered:

As a hiring manager, my personal preference is one electronic file (i.e., combine them), that way I can ensure that your entire message (cover + resume) doesn't get separated accidentally.

Good luck...